This invention relates to chamfering or reaming tools, and more particularly, to a hand-held tool for chamfering the inner and outer peripheral edges of the mouth of an empty cartridge case.
When a firearm discharges a bullet from a cartridge case, burrs may form along the inner and outer peripheral edges of the mouth of the case. If a person desires to reuse and reload the empty case, these burrs must be removed by chamfering or beveling the edges of the mouth in order that proper reloading may be insured.
The prior art has provided various forms of tools for chamfering or reaming. An example of such a tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,482 issued Dec. 29, 1970, to Lee entitled "Integral Chamfering Tool." This type of tool has a hollow main body together with hollow point halves that have integrally formed diametrically opposed exterior and interior cutting edges. When the tool's edges become dull from use, however, the tool must either be thrown away and replaced, or the edges must be sharpened. Due to the position of the cutting edges, the sharpening operation is difficult, expensive and time consuming to perform.
Another arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,145 issued Feb. 1, 1966, to Wilson entitled "Hand Reamer." This type of tool has a blade supporting element together with separate cutting blades which are held in position by a cylindrical housing and collar. This tool is primarily intended for beveling and deburring the inner and outer surfaces of the cut end of a hollow pipe. The reamer, however, is expensive to manufacture due to the number of parts necessary for its assembly.
Still another type of arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,241 issued Nov. 1, 1960, to Wahli entitled "Cutting Tool," and U.S. Pat. No. 2,792,728 issued May 21, 1957, to Novosel entitled "Counter-Cutting Tool." These types of tools include solid conical shaped heads which have integral cutting edges only along the exterior surface of their heads. These tools are thus only useful for reaming the interior surfaces of the end of a tubular workpiece.
A chamfer tool in accordance with the present invention employs a hollow housing with a replacible blade to provide an economical and structurally sound tool that chamfers and deburrs both the inside and outside edges of cartridge case mouths.